Watch out for Richmond’s Eminent Domain Move

Eminent domain is a power of the government to essentially take real estate property from a private owner and pay him what the government thinks is a fair market value for that property. The power has often been used in the past where a government level has planned to build big infrastructure projects such as highways, redevelopments, and similar. Recently, the City of Richmond, California, has been in the news considering a similar move for properties suffering from underwater mortgages. The idea would be that the City would seize the properties from the owners, the bank lenders, via eminent domain and then refinance loans at more affordable amounts instead of homes being sold at discount via foreclosure.

Richmond, sitting 30 minutes form Lafayette, is now embroiled in a lawsuit with lenders trying to push back on an eminent domain move. Clearly, the final result of the issue will be decided by a court, not a bank or the City. Depending which way things go, however, home buyers or investors may want to be informed for potential opportunities. Cary Amo Realty can help, regularly monitoring this region for real estate buyers and sellers.